76-year old man uses a shotgun to shoot and kill a bear that chased him in his own yard.

Sounds like self-defense.

Not in Massachusetts.

Authorities have charged him with illegal possession of a shotgun. Not an assault weapon. Not a handgun. A shotgun. Think about that the next time some Fudd tells you he's OK with gun laws as long as they leave his shotgun alone.

And he's being charged with failure to secure his shotgun. The authorities believe he has no right to carry his shotgun on his own property for any reason, including self-defense. Tell that to the Fudds too. And Joe Biden while you're at it.

Perhaps the authorities believe his shotgun has "unusual lethality" since it's capable of killing bears. So I doubt appealing to "pro-gun" Romney, the friend of gun owners, will help.

And because he had a hobby of filling bird feeders the authorities have charged with "baiting" the bear. Makes you wonder if a cougar were to attack and kill your dogs in your own backyard if these same geniuses would consider that "baiting"?

To top it off, the authorities scolded him for not calling them instead of shooting the bear. Shame on a 76 year old man for not being able to outrun the bear while dialing 911. After all, the authorities determined the wild bear was not a threat to anyone. (Must have been one of those tame picnic basket filching bears from Jellystone Park. Apparently the old guy failed to notice the bear's hat and tie.)

If this had happened in the free state of Oregon, the authorities here would have said, "Nice shooting." But it happened in the state of Massah-government-may-I-have-some-rights?

Yup. Gun laws for for the <i>OTHER</i> guy, not shotgunners. They'll <i>NEVER</i> go after shotguns.

This $hit is getting insane, damn I hope we can slow it down for a while but sure as hell some other whack job is going to do something and the idiotic a holes that put what they call news on the air will beat it to death like a dead horse

"To top it off, the authorities scolded him for not calling them instead of shooting the bear. Shame on a 76 year old man for not being able to outrun the bear while dialing 911."

Come on Brian this is ridiculous, the person in question is guilty of illegal possession at the least. According to him he said,

"Ahlstrand said he was carrying the shotgun Friday night because he thought he saw the bear in his yard Thursday."

The local police chief said,

Chief Sluckis said the bear is believed to have been attracted to a 50-gallon drum of birdseed Mr. Ahlstrand had in his backyard. He said Mr. Ahlstrand told police he heard a noise outside and felt in fear of his life.

“He went back inside, retrieved a shotgun and decided to shoot the bear,” Chief Sluckis said. “Obviously we believe if Mr. Ahlstrand was truly in fear for his life he would have stayed secured in his home and would have called the police.”

Please remember this man is already guilty of breaking the state's gun laws.

BTW don't you think that a fifty gallon drum of bird seed is a little excessive especially when it is in his yard?????